Case Study: "Trafficked Latin" - #02

Dramatic testimony in trafficking trial
By Alexia Saoulli

‘Clients came to look at us and buy and we would have sex with them’

A 36-YEAR-OLD mother who says she was brought to Cyprus and forced into prostitution, yesterday broke down on the witness stand when she was asked to recount her sexual experiences.

The woman, who was given the name ‘Clara’ by her employers at a Nicosia cabaret, told the Assize Court she had been sold for sex 15 times during the six weeks she was employed there.

The Dominican Republic woman’s testimony was given during the last day of her examination-in-chief by the state prosecution. The 36-year-old is a key witness in a case involving prostitution and trafficking for sexual exploitation.

The woman’s breakdown came as no surprise. Although she initially came across as composed and self assured, any question requiring details regarding her activities at the cabaret appeared to unsettle her.

During the procedure, the 36-year-old summarised her experiences at the cabaret from when she arrived in Cyprus on April 18, 2008 to when she asked police for help on May 30, 2008.

The story that unfolded in court was of a woman who came to Cyprus to work as a dancer and ended up virtually imprisoned as a sex slave.

She said the cabaret had been fitted with cameras: one at the entrance of their bedroom door, two at the cabaret entrance and one opposite the bar where the girls sat when they weren’t dancing.

They were told to sit straight and not slouch as the boss was watching them from his office, she said.

If they wanted to go and get something to eat, they were accompanied by one of the defendants or someone else who had ties to the cabaret.

“If we said we were going to McDonald’s and went somewhere else, [defendant number two] knew already,” she said.

The witness was a little sketchy about how the money was exchanged between customers and the cabaret. She only knew she got €17 for a ‘private dance’, which involved having sex on the club’s couches, and €50 for leaving with a client after hours. She said the defendants were present when the exchange took place and that she was then instructed who to go with.

The 36-year-old said she was sometimes taken to a hotel or back to the customer’s home where she duly subjected to his sexual urges, because she thought it would be easier.

Sometimes the clients were extremely drunk and aggressive – another time she had to have sex with two young men on the same night.

Before that, she said they had to be on display for the customers in what sounded like a livestock auction.

“[We] had to sit with clients and let them touch us. This was done between 10pm and 1am.”

Staring at the floor, the witness used her hand to wipe away her tears and struggled to regain composure.

“Did you dance during those times at the cabaret?” the prosecution asked.

“Yes,” she said.

As the details of how she was expected to dance “sensually” to attract clients unfolded, the 36-year-old suddenly looked very vulnerable and much younger than her years.

The defence objected, pointing out the witness had come to Cyprus on a contract as a dancer and that how she danced was irrelevant.

The objection was translated to the witness through the Spanish speaking court interpreter prompting the 36-year-old to look up and stare at the defence lawyer in defiance.

“I didn’t know when I had agreed to come as a dancer that I had to take my clothes off. I didn’t understand that I had to dance naked. But I had to do it,” she said, her voice thick with emotion.

The witness added: “Clients came to look at us and buy and we would have sex with them.”

During the woman’s testimony, the six defendants sat in a line staring impassively ahead. Sometimes they fidgeted in their seats and glanced at their defence team but on the whole their eyes remained fixed on the defendant.

“I had to let them touch me and mainly let them do whatever they wanted because what I understood is that they had paid for me and I had to let them do whatever they wanted to me,” she said.

The witness, who has two children back home in the Dominican Republic, said she had initially been afraid to tell police she had been recruited by a woman in her home country for fear that she would harm them. This was because one of the female defendants, who had contact with the woman in the Dominican Republic, had made it clear her name should be kept out of things.

She finally decided to file a complaint with police when she had ensured her children had moved home and school.

The 36-year-old managed to leave the cabaret after she sent a text message to one of two other Dominican Republic women who had escaped the same month and were already in a shelter.

She was taken in by police, who raided the premises and asked that she be taken in for questioning. Another woman who also left with her, appears to have changed her mind and returned to work at the cabaret instead of staying with police.

The witness said she thought this might be because the cabaret employees had told them when the first two girls had escaped that they had been tricked and imprisoned. Perhaps the other girl believed them which was why she chose to go back to the cabaret, the witness said.

The accused are five Greek Cypriot men and a 26-year-old cabaret artiste from the Dominican Republic. The men are a 55-year-old cabaret manager, three cabaret waiters aged 66, 62 and 53, and a 55-year-old cabaret artiste agent. If convicted they face a maximum sentence of up to 15 years imprisonment.

The trial continues on June 30.

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